


You Don't Stop Running Until You're Dead

by Amy Raine (amyraine)



Series: Bounty Hunter Azula [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character, Bondage, Dark, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Hate Sex, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Painplay, Post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-16
Updated: 2012-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-31 07:29:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/341531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyraine/pseuds/Amy%20Raine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set sixteen years post-series. In self-imposed exile from the Fire Nation, Azula makes a living as a bounty hunter. What starts out as a simple job becomes much more complicated when the daughter of her client tags along, but something more than money is involved.</p><p> I have made edits to comply with the Legend of Korra since Republic City is the setting of the upcoming one-shot sequel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Don't Stop Running Until You're Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the atla_crackfic fic exchange livejournal community. 
> 
> The dice game in the story is street craps, which is a Western game. However, that appears to be what they're playing in the couple of times in the series we see gambling with dice; they always use two dice as opposed to sic bo which uses three dice. Wikipedia and Google are my friends. ^_^ I figure folks in the World of Avatar play a variant where the the losing numbers for the initial roll (the 'come out' roll) include hard 10 (two fives, aka 'spidersnake eyes') in addition to or in place of one of the usual losing numbers: 2, 3, and 12.

The inside of the stone tent is completely black; not even a single crack lets light in. The earth beneath her might as well be granite for how painfully it presses into her back and head. She'll wake up tomorrow morning with a crust of dirt in her chin-length hair, more dirt under her fingernails, and the tunic she wears has endured so many nights on soil that it will never be fully clean again.

 _This is what our life has come to,_  says the voice in the back of her mind that she calls 'the Little Princess'.  _Pathetic._

Toph yanks her pants down, tosses them aside and straddles her leg. She jams her fingers deep inside her and sucks hard on her left breast. Her hand is planted firmly on the dirt next to Azula's head; both holding her up and telling her via earth sense what works and what works better. Not one to lie back passively, the firebender sends a flow of chi up to her hands. Flame flares along her palms and she clamps them onto Toph's shoulders. In the back of her mind, the Little Princess giggles. The earthbender lifts her head and breathes in sharply, the sudden light revealing how she bites down on her lip to keep from screaming before it winks out again.

“Bitch,” she whispers in Azula's ear.

“Admit it, you like it.” But she lets go. With hands now just pleasantly warm she runs her fingers up Toph's sides, causing her to wriggle and her hand inside Azula to thrust deeper. Then she finds the earthbender's breasts and squeezes them, gently at first, then harder. Toph returns the favor by sinking her teeth into her neck just above where it meets her shoulder.

“Damn you,” Azula growls. “That's going to leave a mark.”

“You like it,” Toph mocks. She sits up long enough to grab one of Azula's hands with her free hand, drag it to her own wet sex and press her fingers in. “Touch me.”

“I don't take orders from...”

Toph shuts her up with a fierce kiss, her tongue forcing its way past Azula's lips as her thumb pushes down hard on Azula's clit. The firebender rubs her in turn, fantasizing about setting her on fire. They cry out at the same time, shuddering and clutching each other in the dark.

“Next time,” Azula says into Toph's coarse hair, “say please.”

Toph lifts herself off. “Whatever, Hot Stuff. Now get out.” Azula's pants come out of nowhere to hit her in the face. Behind her the triangular wall comes down, and the ground bucks underneath her, carrying her out of the stone tent and dumping her by her bed roll. The night air chills her legs. Azula touches the scrape on her butt and winces before gingerly slipping back into her pants and crawling under her blanket. She falls asleep to Little Princess's chanting.

_Burn burn burn burn Burn burn burn burn..._

_  
_

~*~*~*~*~

 

At midday they reach the village entrance. Toph lightly prods at the blisters on her left arm, then pulls her sleeves down. From underneath the brim of her straw hat, Azula surveys the collection of weatherworn buildings surrounded by waist-high golden grass.

“We need enough food and water to get through the desert and back,” she says, “and for that, we need more money.”

“I can help with that,” Toph replies. “But you got to hand over what you have.”

Azula narrows her eyes. “I don't think so.”

“Come on, don't you trust me?”

“You're joking, right?”

Toph holds out her hand.

“Fine.” Azula pulls out a pouch from her tunic and drops her last few coins into Toph's waiting palm. “Now hurry up.”

Toph grins and adds them to the small amount in her own money bag, then wanders down a side alley. At the end, three men huddle underneath an overhang to avoid the vicious noon sun, their eyes on two small cubes in the middle of the circle they form. One of the men, distinguished only by his headband, picks them up, shakes them and tosses them onto the ground. He groans while the other two men cheer and divide up the small pile of coins between them.

“Hey, got room for another?” Toph asks, approaching them.

The men peer up at her and begin chuckling. “How can you play, little lady?” asks the balding one. “You can't even see the dice.”

“I can still make bets,” Toph jingles her bag of coins. “But if you don't want my money...”

The men exchange glances and shrug. “It's your loss,” says the big one as he shifts over. Toph sits cross-legged on the ground between him and the guy with the headband. Azula leans against the opposite wall, pulling her straw hat down to shade her eyes, and watches.

Headband Man looks over at her. “You playing too?”

“I don't play games unless I know I can win,” she says.

That earns a laugh from them. “Your friend should take your advice,” replies Bald Guy.

Toph dumps out the coins as her stake and the others put up their bets. She takes the dice, blows on them, rolls them back and forth, and throws. Unnoticed by everyone except Azula, her finger taps the ground just as the dice land.

“Yo-leven,” announces the third man, shaking his long bangs off of his sweaty forehead.

“Lucky roll,” rumbles the bald man as Toph pulls the money to her. “Does lightning strike twice?”

 _It does when I play,_  says Little Princess.

Toph doesn't attempt bending the next three rolls; she gets spidersnake eyes on the first and loses half her initial winnings, makes point and gets it back, then sevens out.

“My turn,” says Bald Guy, and takes the dice from her.

They place bets, he rolls, and Toph taps her finger. “Hard twelve,” says Bangs Guy.

A loss. Another round of betting and he rolls again. “Three.”

Grimacing, Baldy tosses the last of his money into the circle before throwing one more time. When it comes up four, he breathes a small sigh.

Toph elbows Headband Man. “Bet twenty on point coming before seven.”

“Hey, Zhen.” Bald Man glowers at him. “No betting after the come out roll.”

“Come on, Gow,” whines Zhen. “What harm will it do?” They exchange a look that puts Azula on edge, then Gow gives a brusque nod. He rolls, Toph wiggles her fingers, and sure enough another four comes up. He collects his money, and Toph collects hers.

Flashy bending might be awe-inspiring, but this subtle stuff only the most skilled of master could accomplish. Just as for firebenders it was harder to light a single candle from fifty paces than it was to set fire to a house. Once again Azula grudgingly acknowledges that she is traveling with a bender as good as she is.

_As good as you were, maybe. But when was the last time you did any real bending?_

Toph doesn't interfere with Gow's next few rolls. In a casual tone, she says “Seen anyone pass through here lately?"

Gow squints at her. “What's it to you?” he asks.

Toph holds a coin up to his face without moving her head. “We're looking for a skinny guy carrying a big yellow bag. Give you a hundred of these if you tell us where he went.”

He holds out his hands, she paws the air to find them--Azula also had to admit she put on a good show--then counts out one hundred coins. Gow adds them to the pile he's betting with. “Headed southwest toward the mountain pass.”

Azula snorts. “There's nothing out that way.”

Gow just shrugs. “S'where he went. Here, Chen. You go.” He tosses the dice to the man with the bangs. Toph makes him lose the next string of rolls, then crap out, doubling up her bet on each. As Zhen is about to take his turn she gathers up her money and puts it back in the bag. “Been fun, fellas. See you around.”

She walks back toward the village's main drag, Azula falling in step next to her. When they turn the corner she thrusts her fist out. “Here's your money back, plus some, and I'll cover the supplies.” She goes off to the stalls without waiting for Azula's response, and the princess-turned-bounty hunter finds a bench and waits.

Having a partner did have its advantages.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

**Three days earlier**

**  
**

“So you're Mi Yuan," said the elderly man sitting on the dais. His wife sits beside him with head bent and hands primly folded in her lap, a proper Earth Kingdom noblewoman. 

Azula nodded once in reply.

"They tell me you're the best."

Azula nodded again. It wasn't true. Jun was still technically the best bounty hunter in the world; she studied under her, after all. But Jun mostly had that pet of hers to thank for her success, and neither her or that old shirshu could keep it up forever.

“Here's his name, possible aliases and a rough sketch, and your advance.” Her new client beckoned to a servant, who handed her a folded parchment and a small bag of coins. A pittance compared to her usual advance fee, but work had been scarce lately and the reward for bringing the felon back would make up for it. “Reports say he headed north.” he added. “He might have friends in the desert, people who can fence the things he stole.”

“I'll get him before he gets that far.”

“See that you do,” he said. Maybe he was going for authoritarian but his quavering voice just made him sound tired.

After being escorted out of the large estate, Azula went back to the inn and ordered a couple bottles of rice wine. Alcohol shut the Little Princess up, though it was always temporary. An hour later, she stumbled up to her room, threw off her tunic and pants and stretched out on the bed, not bothering to light a candle. The door creaked open shortly after and a woman entered, barefoot, dressed in a light robe. Her short height caught Azula's attention; she got up on her elbows and squinted at her, her vision blurry with drink. “You're not Xiu.”

“She's sick,” the woman said demurely, head bent, hair covering her face. “I hope you find me an acceptable substitute.”

“Whatever,” Azula replied, falling back. “As long as you lick like a good little whore.”

“Mmmm,” The woman crouched between her legs. “Call me that again.”

“What? Whore? Isn't that what you are?” Azula seized a handful of her hair and dragged her up, ready to unleash a stream of colorful epithets...and then she saw the snub nose, the wide grin, the cataracts. Even after a decade Azula couldn't mistake who she was. “What the fuck!”

Toph smirked. “Hey there.”

No amount of alcohol could dull her reflexes. She pushed Toph off, rolled off the bed, and darted for her jian sword. Pointing it at her, she snarled, “Get out, or I'll kill you.”

Toph leaned back against the pillows, not bothering to cover herself. “Aw, are you sure? We were only just getting started.”

“We're on the second floor, and this building's made of wood. That means you can't see and you can't bend.” Azula crawled onto the bed and thrust the tip of the jian under Toph's jaw. “You're defenseless. Leave while you still have your life.”

“A sword?” Toph blurted, laughing. “You've got to be kidding me! Did you decide to take a page out of your brother's book? Were you jealous or something?”

“Shut your mouth." Azula bared her teeth and pressed the sword in deeper. Toph's eyes widened as a drop of blood welled up and began a lazy crawl down her neck. “I've spilled blood over lesser insults than that. I don't know how you found me, but no one knows who I used to be and I'll kill to keep it that way. Understand?”

Toph showed no fear in her face or body language, but the cockiness disappeared from her tone. “I came to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“The man you're after.”

“You faked being a prostitute for that?”

“Would you have talked to me otherwise?”

She had a good point. “So, talk.”

“I want to help you find him.”

“Do you?” Azula let up the pressure a little. “Why is that?”

Toph shook her head. “Meet me tomorrow at dawn, in the alley behind the inn. Then I'll tell you.”

“Or I could just kill you now and be on my way.”

“Won't be so easy to collect your bounty if you've killed your client's daughter.”

The memories clicked in Azula's head. The man's name was Bei Fong. Of course. She backs away and sheathes her sword. “Very well. Dawn.”

The next morning, Azula waited at the designated spot, her bag on her shoulder and her sword on her back, checking her nails. She may not have perfect hair or skin anymore, but she made sure to get manicures whenever she could and she was well overdue for the next one. Definitely the first order of business once the prey was caught.

 _We'll catch him and we'll burn him..._  whispered Little Princess, but she ignored her.

Toph came from around the corner of the inn, dressed for travel, a bandage on her neck. Azula placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow as she drew closer. “All right, spill.”

Toph held up a finger. “I'll tell you everything, but you have to agree to let me come with you.”

Azula let out a sharp laugh. “No. I work alone. Goodbye.”

“You'll never find him.” Toph called after her. “He knows this area better than anyone. But I know his secrets. Take me with you and I'll help you catch him.”

Azula stopped and looked over her shoulder. “What do you want. A cut?”

“No,” she said. “I want revenge.”

  


~*~*~*~*~

 

As they left Gaoling and traveled north through increasingly rough terrain, neither of them said a word to the other. Toph used earthbending to propel herself from boulder to outcropping while Azula clambered up behind her. At sunset, they set up camp in the lee of a tall cliff. After eating the slab of beef-pork Azula roasted, Toph stretched out on the dirt by the fire, cradling her head on her hands and staring up at stars she couldn't see. That suited the firebender fine; she found small talk irritating and pointless. Just as she was laying down, Toph suddenly spoke.

“So, still wanna fuck?”

Azula peered over the edge of her blanket. “Are you serious?”

Toph still gazed sightlessly upward, chewing the end of a stalk of grass with a straight face. “Sure.”

“I'll pass.” She rolled over, turning her back on the other woman.

“Long time before you can get another prostitute,” Toph pointed out. “I'm better than any streetwalker, and I'm offering it for free. Stupid for you not to take advantage.”

“I'm not interested in fucking the Avatar's pet lesbian.”

A pebble hit Azula in the back. “I'm not the Avatar's pet anything. And I'm not a lesbian.”

Little Princess rumbled, but Azula kept her quiet. “Keeping it secret? Fine, I won't tell.”

“No,” Toph replied slowly. “It's just not accurate. I fuck who I want, when I want.”

“How very enlightened of you. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep.”

Silence for a moment, then Toph said, “Ty Lee's pretty amazing. So flexible.”

Azula bolted upright and glared at her. A grin nearly split the earthbender's face in two.

 _Burn her!_  shrieked Little Princess.  _Burn that impertinent cunt!_

Before Azula could stop herself, blue fire was dancing in her cupped hands. She shot two bolts of it at Toph and they scorched the earth on either side of her head. The smell of burning hair reached Azula's nose. Toph jumped up, beating at the tiny flame on the side of her head, then spread her legs in her unique stance, her arms close to her body, palms in.

“I thought you didn't bend in public anymore, so that people won't guess your real identity,” she said.

“I'll make an exception for you.” Azula put her fists up and stepped back into her own bending stance. 

_Yessss,_  hissed Little Princess.

Toph licked her lips. “Let's go then.” A barrage of rocks flew out of the ground at Azula. She spun out of the way, then punched out another burst of flame. Toph dodged, then began to circle her. Typical earthbender listening and waiting tactics.

_Two can play at that game._

Azula lowered her still burning fists and watched Toph's feet, anticipating her next move. A moment later Toph stomped down, then raised her arms, and as the column of stone lifted Azula into the air she used its momentum to flip backwards, firing ball after ball of fire. Toph ducked, but one of the fireballs seared her ear and she hissed in pain.

“Nice trick,” she said. “I got one too. Picked it up from your buddies in the old Dai Li.”

Azula tensed, but this time she wasn't fast enough. Thick cuffs of rock seized her wrists and dragged her back against the cliff face, attaching her to it, then two more clamped around each of her ankles. She glared at Toph as she approached, then inhaled deeply and blew a jet of flame.

Toph jumped out of the way at the last second. “Are you done?” she asked with an air of boredom

Steam curled from Azula's snarling mouth, but she didn't reply.

“Ty Lee told me her theory about why you went crazy,” Toph said, hooking her thumbs in her belt. “She said that even though your daddy messed your head up good and you have secret mommy issues, deep down, it was never really about them. It was all about your obsession with control.”

“Ty Lee needs to keep her fucking mouth shut.”

Toph chuckled. “She also told me that this obsession never went away, but you found a way to keep it from taking you over like it did.” She sidled up to her and ran a finger on the skin just above the fold of her tunic. “She said that if you gave up that control once in a while, completely and without reservation, it restored your inner balance.”

Azula scoffed. “And you believed that shit?”

“I believed her when she said you let her tie you up and blindfold you. She can't lie like you can.” Toph leaned closer, their lips nearly touching. “Though honestly, I don't think people give her enough credit for her insights. But enough about that. Here's the deal. I can let you down and we'll go back to the campsite like nothing ever happened. Or, you can stay like that and let me give you what you need.”

“Fuck you,” she spat, then, “Fine. Do it.”

Toph reached around Azula's waist and untied her belt. Her tunic fell open, her nipples hardening and goosebumps rising on her flesh on contact with the night air. Toph took that belt and wrapped it once, twice, three times around Azula's head, completely covering her eyes.

With her sight gone feelings and sounds came into sharp focus: the stone cuffs rubbing her wrists raw, Toph's teeth along her collarbone, the occasional cooing of a nocturnal bird in the trees around them, her own breath coming faster and harder. Her skin sang where Toph kissed it. The earthbender's callused fingers traced circles on her breasts and stomach, tugged at the drawstring of her leggings and eased them down over her hips, then parted the lips of her sex. Her cheek brushed Azula's thigh. As she began to explore with her tongue, the voice in Azula's head faded, her mind emptied, and she allowed herself to let go.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

**Present**

**  
**

“It doesn't make sense,” Azula mutters as they walk out the other end of the village. “Why is he going southwest?”

“He was never going to the desert,” Toph answers, shifting her pack to a more comfortable spot.

Azula scowls. “If you knew that, why didn't you tell me?”

“I wasn't sure until we talked to those men, but now I have a good idea what his plan is. He's going to go around to Chameleon Bay and take a boat up the river, sell the stuff in Ba Sing Se and hide there.”

“What makes you so certain?”

“He always talked about going to Ba Sing Se,” Toph said softly. Then she picked up her pace, striding on ahead.

 _She's hiding something,_  Little Princess sings. Azula's lips tighten, but she goes after her without a word.

Some distance from the village the ground by the rises into a gentle hill. Toph veers off and begins to climb it, Azula close behind. At the top are three grave markers, the characters on them too faded to read. Lying on the mounds in front of them are small wrapped packages—food offerings for the dead—and stubs of incense sticking out of the ground, recently burned. Scanning the ground around them, she can make out footprints.

“He was here,” she says.

Toph doesn't answer. Her clouded eyes are wet.

“Who is this man to you?”

“Let's go.” The earthbender trudges back down the hill.

“Toph!” Azula shouts after her, hurrying to catch up. “Tell me what's going on!”

Toph spins around so fast that Azula nearly falls on her before halting. She pokes the firebender in the chest. “It doesn't matter. We'll catch him and you'll get your money. That's all you care about, right?” Then she takes off again.

Azula stares at her retreating form for a few seconds, then shakes her head. “That's right,” she answers quietly.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

As the plains give way to pine-covered hills, the track becomes easier to follow: broken branches, footprints, a bit of gray cloth caught on the thorns of a bush. At sunset they find the remains of a campfire in a small clearing, an impression in the ground next to it roughly the size of an adult man. Azula kneels, picks up a charred stick and inspects it. “Smells recently burned,” she says. "He was here this morning. If we keep going through the night, we'll catch him.”

Toph nods and they trudge on. Every so often they stop and Azula checks for signs of her prey, then they continue along his trail. When they come to a wide stream, she realizes where they are. Idly she wonders if the sky bison still sheds as much as he did.

_Filthy animal. Clean it with fire._

Toph flops down onto the stream's bank, uncapping her water skin and guzzling some down. She wiggles her bare toes in the mud along the water's edge and a sigh of contentment escapes her.

“I thought the so called greatest earthbender in the world had amazing stamina,” Azula sneers.

“Five minute break.”

Azula grunts her displeasure, but sits next to her anyway and takes a drink from her own skin.

“I knew you were in Gaoling before you took the job for my father,” Toph says.

Azula stretches and lays back. Just a quick rest. “How did you know it was me?”

Toph scratches her ear, digs her finger in, then flicks some wax away. “Passed you in the marketplace. I couldn't believe it was you, but the way you walk, the way you carry yourself, no one else is like that. Then I heard your voice and I knew for sure.”

“If I had known that's where you lived, I probably wouldn't have gone there.”

"I don't live there anymore." A note of sadness tinged the words. "I spend most of my time in the United Republic. I just came back to visit." She paused, then said softly, “It was nice to see someone who hadn't changed.”

Azula barks out a laugh. “How do you figure? I go by a different name, I cut my hair, I fight with a sword...”

“Yeah, but that's all surface stuff. Inside you're still the manipulative, hardcore bitch who chased us through here sixteen years ago.” Toph exhales. “Everyone else has gone all...soft. They're all about marriage and kids and houses. Even Aang doesn't travel much any more, and he's a fucking nomad. Then there's my parents. I finally got them to accept me for who I am but now they're all, 'When are you going to settle down and give us children?' Your brother, though, he's the worst! He's become nothing more than a grumpy bureaucrat...”

She falls silent for a moment, then murmurs, “Sorry. I shouldn't have brought him up.”

“Nothing pleases me more than hearing that Zuko's miserable,” Azula says, standing up. “But if you're done with your little rant, we need to get going.”

“Like I said,” Toph grumbles as she gets to her feet. “You haven't changed a bit.” Facing the general direction of the water, she bends up a line of muddy stones and they make their way across, then on through the forest. As dawn draws near, the trees become sparser, then give way completely to flat, dusty ground. In the distance the crumbling remains of a village are starkly outlined against a pink sky, gray with age except in places that are charred black. Little Princess has started chanting again; it's harder to ignore.

“Didn't we fight you here once?” Toph asks.

“Yes,” Azula answers. “Now shush.” She scans the ground and spots more footprints. They lead right into the ruins. Setting her pack down, she pulls a rope from it and hooks it onto her belt. Then she draws her sword and approaches the old village.

“It's a trap,” Toph says behind her.

“I know,” Azula replies through gritted teeth. “Be quiet.”

“But there's something you need to know, that's not in the description my dad gave you...” Toph's words cut off with a heavy thump. Azula pivots but has only seconds to register the earthbender lying prone on the ground before fingers jab into her pressure points and she crumples. Boots thud into the dust, the sound of her prey getting away. Little Princess howls in outrage.

“He knows how to block chi,” Toph mumbles into the dirt.

“That would have been useful information before now!”

“I was preoccupied!”

Pushing Little Princess away, Azula closes her eyes and concentrates on her paralyzed limbs. When she had regained a modicum of control over herself after her breakdown that fateful summer, she had made Ty Lee jab her over and over again, trying to figure out a way around the paralyzing effect. There was no way to prevent it, but after long days of trial and error, Azula had discovered a way to shorten the time spent immobile.

As she lay in the dirt, along her chi paths the energy builds up around the compressed points, causing her joints to swell painfully. She wills it to flow back, then up, then back again, converting it bit by bit into heat. Her skin flushes hot, the swelling and pain get worse until she is certain she fucked it up this time and she'll just spontaneously combust. Then the blocks gradually begin to loosen. Once her chi flows smoothly again, she jumps to her feet.

Toph, who is still struggling to regain sensation, says. “How did you get better so fast?” Azula doesn't respond, just scoops her sword up and takes off in the direction of the footprints, ignoring the earthbender's yells.

The prints lead down what used to be the main street, then abruptly disappear near one of the few buildings that are still mostly upright. Nothing moves in the empty windows, no sound comes from within. She carefully steps in, looks around the ground floor, then up through the rafters to the second floor. Her eyes land on a shadow that seems a bit too large and uneven, it immediately coalesces into the gray-clad figure of a man who leaps down at her. She dodges, slashing out as she goes. A muffled moan tells her she hit.

As they circle each other, the first few rays of dawn enter through the doorway, allowing her a good look at him. Messy hair sticks out at odd angles over a hard, lean face, and watery greenish-gray eyes. He's clutching the gash in his side.

“Listen,” she says. “I can take you dead or alive. Your choice.”

“I choose option number three.” He darts through the door and back out into the street. She chases after him, but both of them stop at the sound of Toph's voice.

“Lee.”

She limps toward them, her left leg dragging in the dust, her left arm still limp. “Lee,” she says again, plaintive and heartbreaking. Azula's prey just stands there, watching the earthbender inch closer.

 _He's distracted,_  shouts Little Princess.  _Get him now!_  

But she doesn't.

When they are face to face, Toph hooks her arms around his neck and stretches up on her good foot for a kiss, which he returns with equal passion.

Then she socks him in the jaw. He staggers back, touches the place where her fist connected and winces. Blood wells up from his split lip.

“You asshole,” she yells. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I'm sorry, Toph,” he says.

“Sorry! Not as sorry as you're gonna be!” Feeling must be returning to her other hand because now both of them are clenched into fists. But instead of swinging at him, she rubs roughly at the tears on her cheeks. “Why'd you do it?”

Lee stares at his feet. “It never would have worked out between us, Toph. I'm not good enough for you, for your parents.”

“Fuck my parents,” she snarls. “It's none of their damn business.”

“That's easy for you to say,” he replies in a voice barely above a whisper. “You're a war hero. The Avatar's earthbending teacher, the inventor of metalbending, friend to kings and chiefs. What did I get from the war? A brother so burnt and broken that our farm had to be mortgaged to pay for his medicine. Then the drought hit, and my parents lost the farm because they couldn't pay back their debts, driving them to suicide. I have no land, no possessions, nothing but dishonor and shame. I'm no fit husband for you.”

“I told you already, I don't care about that.”

“I care.”

“So you wait until I bring you home to meet my parents and then you rob them and run off? How is that honorable?”

“It's not like that!” Lee opens his hands in a pleading gesture. “It was just, once I saw where you grew up...I freaked out...”

“Okay, that's enough,” Azula interrupts. “This little lovers' quarrel had been entertaining and all, but I have a job to do.” She steps forward, unhooking the rope from her belt. Lee takes a defensive posture, but Toph grabs Azula's arm.

“Let go of me,” she snarls at her.

“Look, my parents just want their stuff back,” Toph says. “If Lee shows us where he put it, you can take it back with you, you'll get your money, and he can still go free. Okay?”

Azula looks from her to Lee, then sighs. “You better be right, or I'll keep the shit and sell it myself.” She points her sword at him. “Move.”

He leads them to one of the fallen buildings and drags out a stained yellow bag from under a pile of wooden beams. Azula takes it from him, then backs up, still keeping her sword trained on him. “Get out of here,” she tells him. “I don't want to see you again.”

Lee nods and with a last lingering glance at Toph, he starts walking off. Azula turns to go, then looks back over her shoulder. “You coming with me? Or are you going with him?”

“I...” Toph begins, then tenses. “Someone's nearby.” She pauses, feeling the ground with her feet. “Make that three someones.”

They take stances, looking all around them, but nothing stirs in the ruins. Several paces away Lee suddenly pauses as if hearing something, then a hammer comes flying out of nowhere to collide with the back of his skull. Even at this distance, they can hear the sickening crunch of bone. He falls to the ground, and Toph shrieks his name.

Chen emerges from between two buildings on Azula's left. Zhen walks up behind Toph. Both wield polearms. Near Lee's prone form, Gow casually picks up his hammer, then he propels himself with earthbending over to them.

He clucks his tongue. “The great bounty hunter Mi Yuan, actually letting her quarry go. Not good for your reputation. Neither is having your bounty taken from you, but don't worry. When you're dead, you won't care.”

“You recognized her, but you didn't recognize the greatest earthbender in the world?” Toph hocks and spits a wad of saliva that barely misses his foot. “I'm insulted.”

“Toph Bei Fong?” Gow's eyes widen, then narrow. “Doesn't matter. We've got you outnumbered.”

Toph breaks into hysterical laughter. “Oh, buddy, you have no idea how outmatched you are.” She moves, and a slab of stone thrusts out of the ground and into his stomach, knocking him backward. He bends several sizeable boulders out of the ground at her, but she throws up a rock shield. That leaves the other two for Azula.

 _Burn them,_  commands Little Princess.

Azula turns to Chen, who levels his polearm at her. His brows furrow in bewilderment when she sheathes her sword. She easily sidesteps his swing, then punches forward several times rapidly, flames flying from her fists. Chen's clothes catch on fire and he screams as it consumes him. In her head Little Princess shrieks with pleasure.

Wild-eyes and grinning in glee, Azula turns on Zhen. He drops his polearm and begins to run, but not fast enough. Soon he too is engulfed in flame. The smell of burning flesh hangs in the dry air.

By this point Toph has Gow crawling on the ground, bruised and bleeding, as she pelts him with stone after stone. His hammers are nowhere to be seen. “Please spare me!” he begs.

She bends up a few more rocks and crashes them on his legs, causing the bones to snap. Then she drops her arms. “Yes. I'll leave you here to crawl on the ground like the worm you are.” She turns her back on him and stomps away.

Once she's out of earshot, Azula turns to the blubbering man. He squints up at her. “Please. She said she'd spare me.”

“You've seen me bend,” she says. “No one can know I bend.”

He whimpers and holds up his arms, a useless gesture. She pushes through her divided mind, past the layers of identity—the bounty hunter, the princess, the monster—and reaches into the void inside her, bringing out that cold black nothing and mixing it with her energy. Lightning crackles between her hands and she advances on Gow. He screams as she nears, backing away on his elbows, his twisted legs dragging behind him. A bolt to his chest silences him for good.

Sated, Little Princess retreats, going back to whatever dark place spawned her. Azula slumps against a pole, trying to catch her breath. Already the high is fading. On shaky legs she makes her way over to Toph, who is crouched beside Lee's still body. Blood from the depression on his skull pools on the ground, almost reaching her toes, but its flow has nearly stopped.

“Why are you still here?” Toph mutters. “Take the bag and go get your reward.”

Azula opens her mouth to reply, but shuts it again and places a tentative hand on her shoulder. Like a dam breaking, the earthbender buries her head in her arms and sobs.

When the tears finally subside and her body stops shaking, Toph stands and bends the dirt out from underneath Lee's body. He gradually sinks down into the depression she makes, then she covers him over with the earth she removed. When she is done all that can be seen is a small mound; not a trace of blood remains.

“It's good,” Azula says. Actually, burial has always struck her as gross compared to cremation, but this was Toph's deal.

The earthbender shakes her head. “He should be near his parents and his brother. And I can't even make him a decent marker...” She throws herself into Azula's arms, stunning her. “I want to be blind. I can still see him. I feel his blood in the earth. Take me where I can't see.”

Azula finds a building with a second floor and stairs that are still mostly intact and leads her partner up. As soon as her feet leave the earth Toph clutches Azula's arm tighter, stumbling on the uneven steps. They lay down together on the wood, side by side, and explore each other with hands and lips and tongues. Neither tries to outdo or take control of the other. No power plays. No battles. Each touch is a gift, each kiss a small part of a larger story, a story they tell together.

At some point exhaustion finally wins out. Toph's eyes flutter shut, her breathing becomes deep and even. Azula's last thought before joining her in sleep is that her head is blissfully quiet.

~*~*~*~*~

_The princess sits on the throne. Sometimes it's a golden chair, sometimes a platform wreathed in blue flame. But she is always the same; red and black armor, gold flame hairpiece, piercing eyes._

_In a cage before her, Azula is curled up in the corner, naked and smeared with filth._

“ _Sad,” the princess says, descending from the throne. “Look at you. You're a joke. Unwashed hair, skin all spotted and wrinkled, playing with a sword. Disgusting.”_

_She crouches down with her elbows on her knees, grinning at Azula. “And for what? A life spent running from yourself and drinking to chase your loneliness away?”_

_Better than living a lie, forcing people to fear me because I can't get them to love me._

“ _Maybe they didn't love me,” whispers the Princess. “But at least I wasn't alone.”_

_Azula closes her eyes. This isn't right. I'm not in the cage. She is. I control her._

_The throne disappears. Fully clothed now, she straightens and turns to face the cage, inside which huddles the princess, wearing the uniform of an asylum patient, her hair a matted mess._

“ _She's just using you,” the princess mutters. “She was using you from the beginning. A rebound lay. A momentary distraction. When you go back, she'll abandon you and you'll be all by yourself again.”_

_The cage blurs, then dwindles from view. Her voice becomes fainter, but Azula can still hear what she says._

“ _You'll always have me, though. Always.”_

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

**Two days later.**

 

“Wait here,” Toph says at the gate to her parents' estate, and goes inside with the bag. Azula has the nasty feeling she's about to be stiffed, but stays put anyway.

The sun has moved a couple degrees in the sky by the time the gate opens again, but it's not Toph. A guard tosses a bag at her feet which clinks when it lands. “The lord extends his appreciation for your service,” he says curtly, and slams the door shut.

_Told you. Told you told you told you._

Azula hefts the bag. It's time to move on anyway. But as she starts walking, a familiar voice comes from behind her. “Off so soon?”

She turns to see Toph sitting on the wall. The earthbender hops down and strolls up to her. “Sorry about the rude send off. My dad can be a jackass sometimes.”

“It's fine.”

“I'm not gonna tell anyone who you really are, so don't worry about that.”

“It would be a pain in the ass to have to kill you.”

Toph snorts. “As if you could.”

“That's a battle for another day.” Azula begins moving again.

Before she's taken more than a few steps, Toph asks, “Are you ever going to go back to being her again?”

Azula halts, closing her eyes. She thinks back over the past sixteen years: the slow climb out of madness; the exhaustion of fighting her demons day after day; the periods of solace in Ty Lee's arms that were never long enough; and the realization that, in order to own her life again, she had to leave all of it behind and build herself anew.

She considers how easy it would be to knock down the walls of this fragile identity and let her old self out.

Opening her eyes again, she says over her shoulder, “I doubt it."

Toph nods. “I get it.” She stands there for a minute, wiggling her toes in the grass, then says, “If you ever do, I'm not too hard to find.”

As she travels on the road westward from Gaoling, Azula lets herself picture a life with a house and a partner. A slow life. A life where she's no longer running from herself.

Then she sweeps that image away. Happily ever after was for other people. Even Toph would finally find a home in which she wanted to stay, which someone who she could build a life with. Azula would not, could not.

Still, it was a nice dream.


End file.
